MLB Daily Balk Morning Rundown 4/24

Ike Davis hit a homer for the third consecutive game and Dillon Gee has now made two pretty good starts for the Mets since filling in for the injured Chris Young. After Saturday’s 6 innings with 2 earned runs (2 unearned) which helped the Mets to a 6-4 win over the Diamondbacks, Gee’s ERA is at 2.31 and he’s 2-0.

Starlin Castro went 4 for 5 and raised his average to .393 in the Cubs 10-8 win over the Dodgers on Saturday afternoon. Castro has now scored 16 runs in 20 games this season.

Johnny Damon fought through his broken finger to hit a 2-run homer and drive in another run in the Rays 6-4 win over the Blue Jays. Damon might end up hitting cleanup for this team if his power production continues. He’s got 4 homers and 17 RBI in 17 games this season. Last year’s AL home run champion, Jose Bautista, hit two for the Jays in the loss.

Brian Duensing is turning into the Twins early season ace as they beat the Indians 10-3 behind his 7 inning effort in which he only gave up one run. Duensing’s record is 2-0 and he’s got a 3.00 ERA, but the Twins are now 4-0 when he pitches, and 4-12 when Duensing doesn’t pitch.

Brad Penny led the Tigers pitchers in shutting out the White Sox for 7 innings and only gave up one fairly controversial hit as the Tigers won 9-0 on Saturday afternoon. Once again, Sox manager Ozzie Guillen didn’t have any need for a closer.

The Braves got solid pitching from Tim Hudson and their hitters beat up on Tim Lincecum in their 5-2 win on Saturday afternoon. Hudson won his third game and Craig Kimbrel his second consecutive game in as many days against the Giants.

CC Sabathia earned his first win of the season as the Yankees blasted the Orioles 15-3 on Saturday night. Russell Martin hit two homers for the second time this season as he is at 6 overall. Every starter except for Nick Swisher got a hit for the Yankees.

Fifteen of the 16 everyday players in the Astros and Brewers game got a hit on Saturday night. Newly annointed $100 million man Ryan Braun hit his 7th homer, but the Astros won 9-6 in 10 innings.

Alexi Ogando continues to pitch well in his first month as a starting pitcher for the Rangers. He lowered his ERA to 2.13 and got his third win, beating the Royals 3-1. The only area of concern was the 114 pitches in only 6 innings. Too much like Nolan Ryan.

Padres manager Bud Black decided to walk Jimmy Rollins to get to Ryan Howard in the 11th. Well, the Phillies ended up winning 4-2 in 11 innings after Howard slugged a 2-run double off Cory Luebke.

Dice-K pitched another great game as he struck out 9 in 8 scoreless innings to win his 2nd game of the season on Saturday night for the Red Sox over the Angels 5-0.

Kevin Kouzmanoff and Cliff Pennington each homered and Trevor Cahill gave up 1 run in 6 innings to win as the Athletics beat the Mariners 9-1 on Saturday night. The M’s had shutout the A’s in the first two games of the series, but weren’t as good this time.

What Happened (!!)Yesterday?

The CardinalsDavid Freese threw the ball away on a groundout by the RedsDrew Stubbs in the 8th inning on Saturday. What followed was a strikeout for what should have been the third out of the inning. Instead, the inning continued and the Reds plated 3 unearned runs to win the game 5-3.

Brad Bergeson headlined a group of Orioles pitchers who gave up at least 3 runs each to the Yankees on Saturday night. Bergeson gave up 6 earned in 6 innings. They gave up 14 hits, 5 walks, and 5 homers to the Bronx Bombers.

Ervin Santana of the Angels suggested in spring training that the Angels starting pitching would be as good or better than the Phillies this season. After the Red Sox put five on the board against him on Saturday night, Santana’s ERA is now 5.51 and he’s 0-3. Maybe he was just comparing himself to Joe Blanton?

AL News/Notes

The Oriolesare facing some pitching issues right now and manager Buck Showalter‘s alternative choices are dubious at best. If the O’s can stay close in the AL East standings through June, GM Andy MacPhail should be able to find another starter or two in a trade. But the O’s have to be close enough to justify a move like that.

Take a seat, Felipe Lopez. At least that’s what Rays manager Joe Maddon told the utility man as he held Lopez out for Saturday’s game against the Blue Jays. Lopez was cited for a lack of hustle and we all know that Maddon doesn’t go for that.

Despite the early cold and rainy weather, Indians manager Manny Acta doesn’t want to hear excuses for hitters starting slowly. It looks like Acta isn’t going to let the young Tribe players get comfortable in first place.

Last year’s NL batting champion, RockiesCarlos Gonzalez, is battling a slump and an early season case of the flu. The Rockies also acquired former Mets Rule 5 draft pick Brad Emaus from the Blue Jays for a minor league pitcher. Emaus struggled at bat and in the field in New York, but will get a chance to develop more in AAA with the Rockies.

The Braves sat #3 hitter Chipper Jones on Saturday and called on rookieFreddie Freeman to hit third. Freeman has hit well over the past two weeks and has only struck out once in 10 games.

Giants injured players Andres Torres and Santiago Casillaare going to Arizona to continue rehabbing instead of coming off the DL this week. That means both are unlikely to join the team for their upcoming 10 game road trip.

Streaks of the Day

DodgersAndre Ethier extended his hitting streak to 20 games

Royals Alex Gordon extended his career long hitting streak to 17 games